The Reptar Masky-Rade!
by WileE2005
Summary: This is a somewhat silly Rugrats story I wrote that takes place around the end of the original series, based off a recurring dream I had about an episode somewhat like this. It involves the gang prepping for a masquerade ball, just as Leo (the Reptar suit guy) moves next door to Tommy's house. Naturally, the babies think Reptar now lives next door!


THE REPTAR MASKY-RADE

( Buh-buhhhhhh! :)

by WileE2005

Disclaimer: Rugrats are owned by Viacom International. This is partly based on a recurring dream I had of seeing an episode like this. It will take place in the show's continuity some time after the original series ended.

_Our story begins on an extreme close-up on some kind of brown shiny rubbery surface. It stretches for a bit, before going back to normal. And then it stretches again as we zoom out, to see that it is only a Dummi Bear mask that Tommy and Angelica are fighting over…_

"Gimme my mask, baldie!" Angelica demanded.

"But I wanna play with it!" Tommy said.

"It's not a toy, it's a clothes," Angelica argued, "and I need it for the masquerade party tomorrow night!"

"What's a 'masky-rade' party?" Tommy asked, swiping the rubber Dummi Bear mask away from Angelica.

Angelica fumed, and said, "If you have to ask, you'll never know."

"But you said that about the slumber party," Tommy reminded.

"Well, that goes for masquerade parties too!" Angelica said.

"Tommy!" Didi Pickles said from behind the two, taking the mask away from Tommy. "Rubber is not good for babies!" She then walked back into the kitchen, peeking out the window along the way. "Our newest neighbor is moving in today, right now!" she announced to her husband Stu, his brother Drew, and their friend Betty DeVille.

"Oh, you gonna do the old gelatin thing?" Betty asked.

"Hmm, not this time," Didi said, "not since after the Carmichaels strictly forbade us from sending them gelatins."

"And with tomorrow night's masquerade ball," Drew added, "the 'Dummi Bears' creator Paul Gatsby will be there, so I can show off Angelica's Dummi Bear costume you and I designed, Stu, and we will get famous!"

Stu just smiled. For once, his brother came up with a good business idea with him!

…

In the backyard, Grandpa Lou was sleeping in his lawn chair, and Tommy was watching through the fence as their new neighbor, Leo (yes, the same Leo from the "Reptar on Ice" episode) helped some of the moving men bring cargo into the house. "All right, easy with this thing, I need it right away for tomorrow night's party," he instructed them. The box he was referring to had a green rubbery dinosaur tail of sorts with little blue bumps on the top sticking out a bit. Tommy noticed the tail, and recognized it…

"Reptar…" Tommy said to himself. Then he ran over to Phil and Lil, both of whom were in the sandbox together. "Phil, Lil, guess what?"

"What?" both twins answered.

"I think Reptar's moving in next door to my house," Tommy said.

"Why would Reptar wanna move in next door to YOUR house?" Phil asked.

"I don't know," Tommy said. "Maybe there was the time when we gave flowers to Reptar at the mall. Or when he saved my daddy from that dragon at Fairy Tale land. Or maybe it was at 'Reptar on Ice,' when I scared him with his baby."

"Naw, Reptar would me mad at you for that," Lil mentioned.

"You dumb babies!" Angelica shouted from the other side of the backyard, having overheard them. "Reptar wouldn't live in a house; it's just a regular human bean!"

Now Chazz Finster came out to the backyard, along with his wife Kira, and his son Chuckie. "You be good and play with your little friends, Chuckie," he said, dropping off Chuckie at the sandbox. Then as he and Kira walked off, he said, "I sure hope Kimi gets better soon. I wonder if Chuckie misses her…"

Once the two grownups were out of sight, Lil said to Chuckie, "Did you hear the big news?"

"What big news?" Chuckie was a bit uncertain.

"REPTAR'S MOVING IN NEXT DOOR!" Tommy, Phil and Lil cheered.

Chuckie gasped. "You mean Reptar, the big green dinosaur, is going to move into the house next door to your house?"

"Yep," Tommy said happily, "and I'm so excited!"

"Tommy," Chuckie said, "do you remember when you thought you saw Reptar at the dentist?"

Chuckie was referring to the time when Didi and Stu had taken Tommy to see his dentist Dr. Homer about his first tooth, when as an attempt to get Tommy to open his mouth, Dr. Homer had donned a very real-looking Reptar mask to surprise Tommy.

"Yes, but that Reptar was really that mean man in 'dust-guise' with the creepy teeth!" Tommy corrected. "I saw Reptar's tail stick out of a box, and it didn't look like the size of my Reptar doll!"

"But Tommy," Chuckie tried to explain, "maybe this Reptar will pull his face off and really be a 'regoolar' man!"

"Well, I guess we'll have to wait and see," Tommy said…

…

Hours later, in the house next door, Leo was in his new room. He held his very realistic Reptar mask in his hands, making sure it was in good shape. "Hope this still fits me," Leo said to himself. "Ever since 'Reptar on Ice' ended due to creative issues with the other performers, it was nice of the company to give me this costume as a, err, souvenir, even though it wasn't my best job. Now I have something good for tomorrow's masquerade party."

He then tugged the mask on over his head, and adjusted it so he could see out of it. "Well, at least the head still fits," Leo said, the mouth on his Reptar head moving in perfect synchronization with his speech. The mask completely concealed his head; it wasn't anything like the costumes used by many other Reptar actors/impersonators that have shown up at public appearances and events. Leo then walked over to the window that happened to be facing Tommy's house so he could close the window and draw the curtains.

Tommy watched from his bedroom window, standing on a chair. He was in his pajamas, and Dil was already asleep. "Wow… it's Reptar!" he said, when he saw the silhouette of Leo in his Reptar mask through the window of the house next door.

Dil woke up. "Rap-tar?" he asked.

"No Dil," Tommy said as he climbed back into his bed. "Reptar's not in our house right now, but we might see him tomorrow."

…

The next morning, Stu and Didi both went out to prepare for the masquerade ball, along with Chazz and Kira. So Grandpa Lou was watching over Tommy and Chuckie at the house. But of course, he was asleep on the couch. Tommy and Chuckie were tossing the starred ball to each other, while Dil slept in a baby seat, wearing nothing but a diaper. All the while, Tommy and Chuckie were discussing about what Tommy had seen last night…

"I'm telling you, Chuckie! I saw Reptar in the window last night!" Tommy insisted.

"I don't know, Tommy," Chuckie said, "maybe you were dreaming."

"No," Tommy said, "It wasn't a dream. I tried to pinch myself, and I didn't wake up, so it was real."

"It's starting to sound like a night-scare to _me_," Chuckie muttered to himself.

"You mean night-MARE, Chuckie," Tommy corrected. "Come on, I'll prove it!"

They both knocked over the playpen and managed to get out the kitchen door without Grandpa or Dil waking up. As they trekked through the backyard toward the fence, they heard the sound of a lawn mower starting up.

"AAAH!" Chuckie yelped. "What's that noise?"

"Well let's take a look," Tommy said, pushing through the usual loose board. What he and Chuckie saw amazed them…

Leo was dressed up in his full Reptar costume, mowing his new backyard, which was full of ugly weeds and long crabgrass. To Tommy and Chuckie, it appeared that the real Reptar was mowing the lawn.

"Chuckie, Look!" Tommy said.

Chuckie gasped in amazement. "It IS Reptar."

"Come on," Tommy said, "Let's go see him!" They went through the fence and watched Reptar (a.k.a. Leo) still mowing.

"It's a good thing these high fences will make sure nobody sees me, er, I mean Reptar mowing the yard. I need to test and re-break this suit in for the party tonight," Reptar said as he continued with his lawn mower.

Tommy and Chuckie stood not too far from the costumed Leo, in amazement and delight. "Wow… you were right, Tommy!" Chuckie said.

"See? I told you!" Tommy chirped.

But among that, "Reptar" glanced over toward the two, and they quickly dove into a nearby bush. He temporarily stopped, and scratched the top of his rubbery head with one of the hard plastic claws on the costume's hands, seeming puzzled. "I must be seeing things. I thought I saw two of those kids from the ice show incident…" He resumed mowing.

"Maybe we should wait until he's not using that mower thingy," Tommy whispered, and then he and Chuckie crawled out from the bush back through the fence.

…

Later that afternoon, Phil and Lil had come to join Tommy and Chuckie. They talked while sitting in the playpen.

"So, you guys actually saw Reptar next door?" Phil asked.

"Yeah!" Chuckie said. "He was mowing his lawn."

"Reptar mows lawns?" Lil asked. "I thought he'd eat the grass."

Right after saying that, a brown Dummi Bear walked up and entering the playpen, with a small magenta heart on her chest and a tuft of tan fur on top of her head.

"Lookie, Tommy!" Chuckie pointed out.

"Hey… are you for real?" Lil asked, sounding a tad suspicious.

"Yeah, sure, I'm a real Dummi Bear from Dummi Bear Land!" the Dummi Bear answered, her voice sounding suspiciously like Angelica and the head's lips not moving.

"Hey!" Tommy said. "First Reptar moves next door to my house, and now the real Dummi Bears come over!"

"Of COURSE I'm not a real Dummi Bear, you dumb babies!" the "Bear" shouted, and she reached up and began stretching her rubbery head upwards in an attempt to remove it.

"Look," Chuckie gasped. "He's pulling off his head. I can't watch!" He covered his eyes.

The Dummi Bear mask then violently popped off with a loud "SNAP!" revealing herself to be Angelica, of course! She cackled evilly. "Whaddaya babies think of my costume for tonight?"

"What's a 'custom'?" Lil asked.

"You crybabies will believe ANYTHING," Angelica laughed, walking off.

"So when do we get to see this Reptar?" Phil asked.

Tommy began, "Later, we sneak out of the playpen, and go through the fence. Then, we go into Reptar's house and…"

Just then, Didi entered with Kira and Betty. "OK, pups," Betty announced. "Let's get you all into your costumes for the party tonight!"

"Oh no, I forgot about the 'masky-rade' party tonight," Tommy whispered to the others.

…

As the sun began to set, the babies were all dressed up in their costumes. Tommy and Dil were both put in matching Goober the Gopher costumes, much to Tommy's disdain. Chuckie was a cowboy, Phil and Lil were bees, and Angelica was in her full Dummi Bear suit. The adults were all dressed up as well. Stu was Tarzan, and Didi was his Jane. Chazz was a samurai, and Kira as a Japanese princess. Betty DeVille was a cheerleader, and Howard a basketball player. Drew donned a gorilla suit, and Charlotte wore a 50s girl outfit, complete with a poodle picture on the skirt. Susie Carmichael had also shown up, hiding most of her long black pigtails in a backwards baseball cap and wearing baggy jeans, a medallion and and a boys' T-shirt.

"Yo-yo, what's up dawgs?" Susie said, trying to imitate a male rapper.

"We're not dogs, but Spike is," Tommy corrected.

Susie sighed. "I'm a rapper for the masquerade ball. My big brother Buster and sister Alisa helped put it together for me! I'm starting to get a little suspicious on Buster's aspects of it though…"

Tommy decided it would be best to not bring up the whole Reptar thing to Susie.

…

_Rugrats will be right back. But first, a word from one of the show's cast members…_

"Hi there, everyone. This is Leo, better known as that man in the Reptar suit. (_As he explains this, he strips down to his briefs and an undershirt, and gets the realistic Reptar costume out._) Some of you may be asking, 'Leo, why does that Reptar head move and act like a real head? That's pretty much impossible!'

Impossible from your point of view, yes. But it isn't just 'because it's a cartoon.' The Reptar costume is a very advanced example of modern stage show costume technology for its time. As I slip into the body suit part here, it is well padded to give me the right proportions that Reptar would have, and on the chance I fall, the interior of the costume cushions me as an added bonus. This was especially handy during 'Reptar on Ice"; rehearsals because my ice skating skills aren't so great. Now for the mask, which is what all of you are wondering about. (_He holds the interior up to the camera._) The reason why the mouth moves very realistically is because it has state-of-the-art animatronics inside it, the mouth controlled by several motors so Reptar can talk in a very life-like way, as you noticed. There is also a small set of cushioned servos that rest above my eyes so the mask can mimic my own eyes' expressions. The interior is also worn sort of like a crash helmet, and the animatronic workings are covered with a fine green silicone rubber to give the head a very realistic appearance.

I am also able to see out of the head rather well, thanks to vision holes in Reptar's nostrils, and a couple of small slits right near Reptar's uvula, with the throat painted various shades of black to give it a 3-D look, as if it isn't a mask. And as for why the mouth actually matches up with my own dialogue, the mask has a small microphone in the mouth that not only detects the lip movements by the words I am saying… _(He puts the Reptar mask on, and begins having the mouth move very realistically with his own as described._) …but it can also amplify my own voice, to make it sound as if it is coming out of Reptar's mouth, thus avoiding the usual 'muffled voice' problem costume heads usually have. _(Now he zips up the suit._) Well, it's time for me to get to that masquerade party. I sure hope nothing goes wrong. And I hope this answered your questions!"

_And now, back to Rugrats!_

…

So the cast arrived at the party, which was being held in the MegaCorp building's large conference/ballroom. Charlotte had helped organize the party, and decided to hold it here. Everything was starting up, and other guests were arriving. Tommy was still fussing a bit over his Goober the Gopher costume, and had managed to bring along a plastic Reptar Halloween mask that he could change into later.

A little while later into the party, everyone was having a good time. Even Charlotte managed to break away from using her cell phone the whole time, because she was instead having a lively conversation with her assistant Jonathan, who came dressed as an Indiana Jones-esque action hero, and surprisingly only a small bit of their discussion was work-related! Meanwhile, Ape Drew was showing his daughter's Dummi Bear costume to Paul, who came as Elvis.

"This looks very familiar," Paul said.

"It should," Angelica said from behind her Dummi Bear mask. "You remember that dinner we came to, with me wearing this costume!"

"Oh God…" Paul muttered to himself.

"Oh yes!" Drew said, removing his ape mask. "Isn't her Dummi Bear kid wear great? My brother and I came up with it, and he makes them and I sell them! So even though Halloween is ways and ways off, if we sell to you NOW we guarantee that the costumes should be sell like hotcakes by September…"

As Drew went off rambling about business, Angelica walked away pulling off her Dummi mask. She found the babies hanging out with Susie. Tommy was struggling to pull off his Goober Gopher hood.

"And just what do you babies think you're up to?" Angelica demanded, like she always does.

"We were going to see Reptar tonight," Chuckie said, "but we had to go to this masky-rade party instead. It seems kinda scary. Look at that big moo cow over there!" He pointed to some guy in a rather cheesy cow costume. "And also look at that monster." There was a guy wearing a white nightgown of some sort, green monster gloves and a green rubber monster mask with three eyes and a propeller beanie cap on top of his head.

"We wanted Reptar to give us his auty-graph," Lil moaned.

"Aw, quit your whining," Angelica complained. "Reptar's not living next door to you!"

As she said that, Tommy finally managed to rip off the Goober head from his costume, and then he gasped. "Guys! Look!"

Sure enough, Leo as Reptar had just arrived at the masquerade party! He was wearing a dark blue overcoat over his costume. You could hear a few gasps of amazement from the crowd.

"Wow! Reptar came to the party!" Chuckie gleefully danced on tiptoe. "Maybe he can get rid of some of the monsters here!"

"You dumb babies!" Angelica hissed. "Why would Reptar arrive wearing a coat?!"

"Well," Tommy said, "because he's the REAL Reptar, and it's a little cold outside, so he needed to keep warm."

Angelica initially moaned, until she saw Reptar talking to someone. She couldn't really hear what he was saying, but she did look somewhat shocked among seeing Reptar's face realistically moving with his voice. "Wow… if he was the real Reptar, then hopefully he can probably EAT you babies!" She cackled, and ran over to Charlotte.

"Yo, man, that Reptar sure looks impressive," Susie said, still staying in character.

"That looks a lot like when we went to see him on 'Reptar on Ice!'" Buster added, dressed up in a black leather jacket, a dark green wild wig and white face paint. "Must be the same costume."

"Tommy," Lil asked, "do you know what a 'custom' is?"

"I don't know," Tommy said, putting the Reptar mask on in front of his face. "Let's go see him!"

"But Tommy," Chuckie said, getting nervous again. "What if Angelica's right? What if it's actually the mean Reptar that would try to eat us?"

"Chuckie, relax!" Tommy put his hand on Chuckie's shoulder. "This looks like the cute, cuddly lovable Reptar we've seen before. Would the mean Reptar mow his lawn?"

"He's got a point," Phil said. "Let's go!"

So the four kids took off, leaving Dil in his stroller next to Didi.

…

Reptar had re-emerged from the coatroom, having hung up his overcoat. He showed off a few moves by beating his chest, and called out in a deep voice "Halt! I am Reptar!" Some of the nearby partygoers applauded.

"Hey, great costume!" a man dressed as a cartoonish wolf in a zoot suit said. "Is that you, Leo?"

"Who is this Leo? I'm Reptar! Hear me roar!" Reptar was now really into the role. Then he leaned over and whispered to the wolf, "I'm surprised at how much fun this is. It's even better than the ice show!"

But then Reptar heard a woman gasp. "Is that you… Reptar?"

Reptar turned around, and recognized the woman. It was Mona, the co-star of "Reptar on Ice!" She came dressed as a princess, with a pink dress and gold tiara. In the ice show, she played the girl reporter that falls in love with Reptar and marries him. Although Leo wasn't too big on the script of the show, he and Mona mostly got along well.

"I, uh…" Leo said, his Reptar mask's mouth in perfect synchronization with his voice.

"_They say he's a menace, but I love him…_" Mona began singing, mostly to the other partygoers.

"_Sure he smashes cities, but I love him…_"

"Look, Tommy," Chuckie pointed out. "That's the same lady from 'Reptar on Ice!'"

"Maybe we should wait a little bit," Tommy said.

…

Meanwhile, Drew was still trying to explain his sales pitches to Paul about the Dummi Bear costumes. He was going on and on, following Paul around the party the whole time. Eventually…

"RANDY!" Paul hollered.

Randy Carmichael came over, dressed as Mister T. "Yes, sir?"

"This pest that claims to be a neighbor of yours keeps bothering me about selling Dummi Bear costumes!" Paul complained.

"I'll handle this," Randy said, pulling Drew aside, then saying to him, "What are you doing, trying to get me out of this business?!"

"I'm only trying to help with the business," Drew said. "Besides, I thought Paul liked me and the other neighbors!"

"Well, NOT WHEN YOU'RE BOTHERING HIM!" Randy practically shouted.

"Now YOU stay out of this, OK?!" Drew had snapped, and he began to hurry back to Paul. "Listen Paul, if it isn't for my sales, the Dummi Bears could eventually FLOP!"

"I can leave this party, you know," Paul warned. "I can walk out and take my business elsewhere."

"HA! I'll have you know my wife is the boss around here, and she can make it see that you stay." Drew then yelled, "CHARLOTTE!"

"Uh-oh," Angelica said to herself, hearing it from across the room. "When Daddy yells like that to Mommy, it means grown-up trouble!"

Charlotte then strode across the room, leaving Angelica out of her supervision. So Angelica took the opportunity to wander around more, showing off her costume to the guests. Eventually, she came across Reptar, mingling with a couple of other guests, and pulled off her Dummi Bear head. "Listen Reptar," she said, "I don't know how you got all the way from Tokyo to here, but I've got a favor to ask you!"

Leo gasped. He recognized Angelica from his earlier Reptar gig at his late brother's carnival. Angelica was the reason why Leo was initially fired from the carnival and for his brief grudge against kids. Even though he didn't enjoy the carnival job that much (he was always being watched, the Reptar costume he wore was very subpar and smelly compared to the Ice Show suit he had on, and the Reptar Cereals he was to give free samples to were too tempting for him), he still never forgot that night he was fired.

"Hey, I know you," Leo/Reptar said. "You're that awful little human girl from the carnival last year. The one that got me in big trouble!"

"What carnival?" Angelica asked. But then she softly gasped, suddenly remembering the incident. "Uh-oh."

"Uh-oh is right!" Reptar said, seemingly getting more in character. "I thought the ice show would have helped me forget, but it hadn't. And now, I'm going to make sure you get what you deserve!" Reptar let out a roar, and began chasing the screaming Angelica around the party.

At the same time, Charlotte and Drew were getting into a major argument with Paul and Randy. "So just LEAVE ME OUT OF IT," Randy was finishing, and he slapped Charlotte on her side.

"Did you… just SLAP me?" Charlotte asked in total disbelief.

"Yes," Randy said. "Because your husband won't stop bothering my boss!"

"Well, I myself am a boss," Charlotte said. "And this is for your slapping me!" She then punched Randy in the stomach!

The next thing they knew, Randy and Charlotte were getting in a physical fight! Drew had put on his ape mask again, let out a gorilla-like roar, and leaped to attack Paul. But Paul just decked the ape, and sent him falling onto someone's table. Drew growled and began to chase after Paul, having gone completely whacko.

"HELLLLLP! SAVE ME!" Paul screamed.

People at the party began to panic, and a few others began to fight each other as well. With Randy and Charlotte beating each other up, Drew attempting to assault Paul, and Reptar going after Angelica, you never SAW such a ruckus! The zoot suit wolf ducked into the coat room and called 9-1-1…

…

Meanwhile, Grandpa Lou and his wife Lulu were watching over Kimi at the Finster house. Kimi was now feeling much better, and had recovered quite a bit after the others left for the party. Lulu was busy playing with Kimi, while Lou was asleep in front of the TV, because he had been watching "The Boring Old Men's Fishing Show" once again. But the sound of news report music woke him up, and Lou saw "BIG ACTION NEWS SPECIAL REPORT" flashing on the screen.

The TV showed top Big Action News anchorman Rex Pester reporting on the party. "It's total chaos here!" Rex said in a melodramatic manner. "Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right, and here I am stuck in the middle of it all! The MegaCorp masquerade ball has taken a sudden turn for the worse. Look at that ape over there…" The camera showed Drew strangling Paul, and then panned over to Charlotte fighting Randy. "And even old Reptar is on the loose!" Rex said, as the camera showed Reptar chasing after Angelica. Tommy, Chuckie, Phil and Lil were running after Reptar, giggling!

"What in tarnation?!" Lou said. "Lulu! There's a riot going on at the masquerade party, and my older son is engaging in a fight, and the sprouts are smack dab in the middle of it!"

"Oh dear!" Lulu gasped. "Didi and Stu really need to take better care of those kids!"

"Come on," Lou said, grabbing his car keys and his ugly rubber monster mask from a couple Halloweens ago (the same one from "Candy Bar Creep Show.") "We've got to get there and save the kids and stop Drew!"

…

Back at the party, the police had not arrived yet. A few other patrons evacuated the building in case something was to go REALLY wrong. It was still total chaos and havoc.

"Please, Mr. Reptar, don't eat me!" Angelica screamed.

"Eat you?" Reptar said. "I'm only going to make sure your mommy and daddy get you in major trouble, for getting ME in trouble with that nasty old boss of mine!"

"That's even worse!" Angelica began to run faster.

The babies were still running after Reptar. "Tommy," Chuckie gasped, "I don't think Reptar is being so cute and cuddly all of a sudden!"

"He has a right to be mean to Angelica," Tommy said. "Angelica is always mean anyways!"

"Yeah!" Phil and Lil agreed in unison.

At the same time, Didi was running around frantically, pushing Dil's stroller. "STU! The kids disappeared again!"

"A fine time for them to wander off as usual!" Stu yelled, and he began looking for them as well.

Now Jonathan was involved with the fight Charlotte and Randy were in. "Stop this!" he said. "You're not acting like how a C.E.O. would."

"What would YOU know?!" Charlotte hollered. "I have the option to fire you!"

"Actually…" Jonathan began, but Charlotte then lunged on Jonathan and began pulling on his hair!

Elsewhere, Drew caught up to Paul and bit him on the arm! "EEEEEEYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAH!" Paul bloodcurdlingly screamed.

Reptar, still in full costume and character, was about to grab Angelica, when Tommy realized he could do the only thing he could to save Angelica and snap Reptar out of it…

"REPTAR!" he cried.

The other babies stopped and gasped. So did Reptar, and Angelica.

Reptar turned around, and saw Tommy, still in his headless Goober costume and his plastic Reptar mask tilted on top of his head. "Reptar?" Tommy asked.

"Oh my," Leo said to himself from inside the costume, even though Reptar's mouth still moved with his voice, "it's the lizard kid!"

Tommy just giggled and began hugging Reptar's leg. Angelica saw this opportunity to get away.

Meanwhile, Betty was pushing some of the other partygoers aside. "This is an emergency!" she was saying. "My kids are lost around here somewhere, and it's all my neighbors' faults!"

Just then, some police officers barged into the party, when at the same time, Lou, Lulu and Kimi arrived through another entrance.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" a big burly policewoman shouted through her megaphone. "Please desist all of this rowdy activity! We don't want any more people getting hurt!"

"STU! DREW! TOMMY!" Lou yelled, pushing through more people, his monster mask in his hand.

"Grandpa! What are you doing here?!" Angelica asked.

"I came to save you and the sprats' lives, and teach your daddies a lesson!" he said.

But behind him, the police put Drew, Charlotte, Paul AND Leo (still in full costume) in handcuffs. "You four are coming with us!" the policewoman said.

"Tommy!" Lou saw Tommy still clutching on Reptar's leg, and Chuckie and the twins with him.

"Reptar!" Tommy chirped again.

Lou gasped. "STU! DIDI! I found the kids! And Tommy said his first word!"

Didi and Stu came rushing right over. "Oh, Pop!" Didi said. "Thank God you came and found the babies for us! This party turned out to be a total disaster!"

"Reptar!" Tommy cried. He didn't want his hero to be arrested!

"Hey Deed," Stu said, "I think I know why the kids wandered away from us. Look over there."

"But officer," Reptar said, "I think I've snapped out of it. Those kids LOVE me!"

"AH, SHUT UP!" Drew yelled. "You're just a big rubber dinosaur suit. What do YOU know about kids and parenting?!"

"I know _you_ must be irresponsible, to let your daughter run around like that. She could have gotten me killed!" Reptar told Drew.

"Princess…" Drew eyed her daughter.

"Yes Daddy," Angelica said, coming clean. "I was bad! I hated wearing this stupid Dummi Bear costume just so you can impress that boring Dummi Bear Man!" She tossed her Dummi mask aside and began to unzip the suit.

"Angelica!" Charlotte sharply ordered. "Put that back on!"

"NO!" Angelica had now completely removed her Dummi Bear suit, revealing her red bathing suit underneath. "It's hot and stinky, and it's why I put my bathing suit on underneath it in advance!"

"She has a point!" Paul said.

"Oh, KEEP QUIET!" Drew said. "Your company and mine are now in grave danger, and it's all Angelica and that dinosaur's fault!"

"Tell it to the judge," the policewoman said, as she was removing Reptar's handcuffs.

"Wait a minute!" Charlotte complained. "How come HE gets to be released? What about US?!"

"Because Reptar was innocent," the policewoman explained. "Your little girl was right. You three were all going out of hand and turned a nice party into a total riot. So I'm taking you three in!"

"But I'm a good father! I'M A GOOD FATHER!" Drew protested as he, Charlotte and Paul were taken out of the hall.

"Oh, and Charlotte?" Jonathan called out. "YOUR PAY IS CUT!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO !" Charlotte wailed as she was escorted out of the building with Paul and Drew.

Things seemed to calm down pretty quickly after that. The Finster and DeVille parents all came up to Reptar, relieved to know their kids were all right.

"Oh pop," Didi said. "Thank you for saving the kids!"

"Don't thank me," Lou said. "Reptar here is the one that got the kids together and made things under control!"

Reptar was now hugging Tommy, Chuckie and the twins. They all looked so happy!

"You still think I'm so mean and scary?" Reptar jokingly asked the babies.

"No!" Chuckie laughed.

"Oh, thank you Mr. Reptar!" Didi said, throwing her arms around Reptar's green rubbery body. "Thank you!"

Reptar patted Tommy on the head, and Tommy cooed "Reptar…"

"Hey, it was the least I could do," Reptar said to the parents. You could tell that he was no longer uncomfortable around kids!

Didi walked off talking to Reptar, "Mr. Reptar, I wonder if you'd care to share your theories on childhood development…"

Phil gasped in delight. "Reptar talked to you again!"

"Well," Tommy said, "it looks like WE saved Reptar for once!"

Stu was talking to Lou. "Wow, I can't believe it took all this time, and Tommy finally said his first word. 'Reptar.'"

"Yep," Lou said. "Then again, it took Drew fifteen months before he could talk! And why do I use 'fifteen' a lot? I have no idea."

"Why do we have to bring up Drew?" Stu said. "He's going to jail!"

"Jail, schmail," Lou said, "as long as Drew gets what he deserves. After all, he used to pick on YOU all the time!"

"I see what you mean…" Stu chuckled.

…

Eventually, the time came to award the best costume prizes. Betty and Howard got "best couple," and then to everyone's surprise…

"And the winner for 'Best Children's Costume' is… Angelica Pickles, the bathing beauty!"

Angelica gasped. She couldn't believe she had won!

Angelica accepted her trophy, and the judge explained that her bathing suit costume was both cute and original. Not only that, Angelica was actually being a good sport about the whole thing!

Then of course, Reptar was pronounced the full contest winner, hands-down. The crowd erupted in cheers and applause, as Reptar had some kind of crown placed on top of his mask, and was given a large trophy resembling the "sad-happy" drama masks.

"What's going on with Reptar?" Phil asked.

"I think he's being crowned king of the beasts!" Tommy said.

On stage, Reptar whispered something to the emcee. "What, you're not going to unmask?! Why not?"

"Because I don't want to disappoint the kids. They practically helped save the party!" Reptar explained.

The emcee understood and they all laughed, as the kids, sans Angelica, but now including Kimi, ran over to Reptar for more hugs once again.

"Well guys," Tommy said to the others, "I think I'm gonna LOVE having Reptar live next door to my house!"

"Oh yeah," Phil said, "I forgot that he's now your nay-bor!"

"I just heard about this," Kimi said, "and it already makes a lot of sense to me!"

The babies laughed as a newspaper photographer said, "What a scoop! This is a snapshot moment," and took a picture with his camera of Reptar and the kids, with the parents standing hear the dinosaur…

…

BUT WHAT ABOUT THE EPILOGUE?

It was a few days later, at the Pickles' house. Angelica was living with Stu and Didi until her parents were released from jail. She had brought most of her belongings, including her beloved Cynthia doll, into their guest room, and Grandpa Lou had also volunteered to come over each day and help. Times weren't so rough for the kids at the house by this point.

Stu was getting ready to go over to the Drewland Community College (yes, believe it or not, their hometown is called "Drewland") for the parenting courses he was taking, per request of Lou and Betty. Didi and Lou were going to watch over the kids. Meanwhile, in the playpen…

"So I can't believe Reptar now lives in the house next to you!" Kimi said.

"I know," Tommy said. "I already got my Reptar doll autographed by him!" Tommy held up his favorite Reptar doll, showing "To Tommy, your pal Reptar" signed on the bottom of one of Reptar's feet.

"You must be dumber than I thought," Angelica said. "I can understand the real Reptar came to the masquerade party, but living next door? HA"

At that moment, the door buzzer sounded. Didi answered, as she was getting ready to go out. "Oh hello there, Leo. Come on in; the kids are in their playpen."

Didi walked in with Reptar (it was Leo of course, in his full ultra-realistic Reptar suit and mask once again) saying, "Look who's here, kids! Reptar is going to help look after you while I'm out and put on a personal show for you all!" She opened the playpen, and the babies ran over to Reptar, leaping into his arms. Reptar and the babies all laughed, glad to see each other again.

Angelica just gave a look of disbelief. "I take back what I said!"

END


End file.
